The armies of India and Kazakhstan began a fortnightly joint exercise in Meghalaya on Thursday, a senior defense officer said here.

The sixth edition of “Kazind-22,” a joint training exercise aimed at raising the level of defense cooperation and promoting bilateral ties between the two nations, kicked off in Umroi, 25 km from Shillong, and will end on April 28. end in December, he said.

“This joint exercise will allow the two armies to train, plan and conduct a series of combined tactical exercises to neutralize likely threats that may arise during UN peacekeeping operations,” the army officer told PTI.

The two countries launched a joint annual training exercise as Exercise Prabal Dostyk in 2016, which was later upgraded to a company-level exercise and renamed Exercise Kazind in 2018.

The Kazakh soldiers have been withdrawn from their regional command stationed in the south, while the 11 Gorkha Rifles are taking part in the exercise and representing the Indian Army, the officer said.

As both armies will participate in various combat games in addition to joint tactical planning and exercises, the exercise is expected to enhance military ties, adopt each other’s best practices and foster the ability to work together in conducting counter-terrorism operations in semi-urban areas or Jungle scenarios under a UN peace enforcement mandate, he added.

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